 4. Brazil’s new president From torture in a jail cell to the helm of Latin America’s largest nation, it has been an unlikely political rise for President Dilma Rousseff, who claimed Brazil’s seat of power on Saturday. In becoming the country’s 36th president, Rousseff created a feat* nearly unthinkable a year ago when the relative unknown was tapped* by then-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to be the ruling* Workers Party candidate. 5. Russian passenger jet explodes A Russian Tu-154 passenger jet carrying 124 people caught fire as it taxied* down a snow-covered runway in Siberia and then exploded Saturday, killing three people and injuring 43, including six who were badly burned. Most of the passengers and crew were taken off before the explosion, although people on board described a chaotic scene as the burning plane and panicked* passengers climbed over one another to rush through flames to escape. | 